People's Companion to the Breviary, Vol. 2 Paperback – January 1, 1997

My wife and I pray the Liturgy of the Hours from the People's Companion to the Breviary. I must confess that I had to be convinced that this version of the Hours was special. After using it the first time I wondered why I had hesitated, but it became clear to me that I was stuck by an instituional prerogative: this is the only way to pray the Hours. We had used the Chrristan Prayer after moving on from the 4-volume Breviary that we used for the 4 years of deacon formation. Even then I had to be convinced that changing to a Breviary that was more clearly written and organized so that prayers could be found more easily was not wrong. Then my wife suggested the People's Companion to the Breviary. As soon as we prayed it the first time I was convinced that I owed a great "Thank You" to the Carmelite Sisters of Philadelphia for this most spiritually and communally inspiring work. The use of inclusive language is a signal to the clergy that "...times are a'changin'...." The inclusve language reminds me that we are all creatures of God and that we ALL have a spiritual connection to our Creator that unites us ALL into a community. For me one of the most inspiring prayers is the Glory Be: Glory to you Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit. It gives me a feeling of freedom from the immutable rule of law for which Jesus admonished the phrases, uplifts me spiritually and reminds me especially that we pray as a community. My only hope is that the good Sisters will publish an update/supplement to the Saint's days by adding new ones.

excellent condition!

The translation is beautiful and theaddition of the commentary by current andnear-current Catholic saints and thinkersmakes this a litergy you will want to pick upto read daily.The size is kind of large -- but that's a plusfor older folks.

This would be my daily prayer book if it weren't a paperback. A pity this never came out in a hard- or flexible-cover edition. Now long out of print. However, I've just arranged to have it converted to a hard cover, so it'll last longer. Wasn't expensive for both volumes. I've got some kind of psychological block about praying from a paperback. :)UPDATE: found an easy solution. For about $50 a book, I had both volumes rebound in flexible hardcover. Now this book will last a long time, even with daily use. I've changed my review to five stars.

The Book of Prayer is inclusive in its language which I truly appreciated.The Psalms are well written and translated.I like the contemporary petitions and intercessions.The readings have a good contemporary inspiration

The change in the Doxology.

I had used it before and really enjoyed the style and especially the readings. They are of a contemplative nature, which is my preferred spiritual focus.

It is nice to see a prayer book that actually addresses the feminine side of God. Text is well written and capable of inspiration.